Focusing on a large, "traditional" gang jurisdictionLos Angelesthe authors investigate the effect of victim, suspect, and incident characteristics on the likelihood of case rejection for 614 homicide suspects. The data were collected by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to evaluate Operation Hardcore, a specialized prosecution unit initiated to address the complexities of prosecuting violent gang-related crimes. These data, which captured decisions made in one of the nation's largest district attorney's offices, provide a unique glimpse into how a jurisdiction addressed the growing problem of gang violence. Overall, the results of this study shed light on how prosecutors charge gang-related homicides and how multiple victim caseswhich potentially attract more public attentionmay influence such decisions. Moreover, the findings also have implications for specialized prosecution units, as they were found to reduce the likelihood of case rejection. Policy implications and directions for future research are offered. (Published Abstract)
Gang-Related Homicide Charging Decisions: The Implementation of a Specialized Prosecution Unit in Los Angeles
NCJ Number
233699
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 3-26
Date Published
March 2011
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study examined prosecutorial decisions to reject gang-related homicide charges.
Abstract